Three policemen, a reservist and another man were arrested this week for dealing in ammunition without a licence, police said on Friday.
A police reservist, Inspector Craig Brendon Sacke (31) and 33-year-old Stephen Grippa were arrested on Monday, said Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht.
”The men were found in possession of 15 000 of 9mm ammunition belonging to the South African Police Service and it is believed that they were about to sell the ammunition,” said Martins-Engelbrecht.
They appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and were released on R5 000 bail each.
The men were arrested after an operation by the North Rand organised crime unit in Midrand.
A third suspect — an inspector at the Johannesburg area training component — was arrested in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
On Thursday police arrested two more police inspectors in connection with the case.
”A 32-year-old inspector working for the Pretoria police training section and a 31-year-old inspector from the Johannesburg training component were arrested on Thursday,” she said.
The two were expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
”Police confiscated 15 000 rounds of ammunition for 9mm rifles and more than 16 000 R5 rounds of ammunition,” said Martins-Engelbrecht.
Gauteng Commissioner Perumal Naidoo condemned the actions of these officers and praised the members of the organised crime unit for their ”excellent” work.
He said criminal elements had no place in the SA police service.
”They were really arrogant to think that they could get away with this scam,” said Naidoo.
Police expected more arrests in connection with the syndicate, and more charges might be added to the case, said Martins-Engelbrecht. – Sapa